Unusual nn for Elisabeth?

[BarbaraManatee]

We quite like the name Elisabeth but can't agree on a nickname for it. Our surname begins with a B so that rules out several of them. We're not keen on overly cute/girly names. Plus I'm related to a Liz, an Eliza & a Lily...

Would it be too "out there" to call her Elis? It's a Welsh which I am spelling of Ellis & traditionally masculine but there was a female Brazilian singer called Elis Regina so I feel it's not completely without precedent...

It can also be traced back to being Biblical, which is one of the reasons we're looking at Elisabeth/Elizabeth in the first place. According to various baby name websites, Ellis is an anglicised form of Elias which is a Greek form of Elijah.

Plus, her middle name would most likely be Alice, so it would sound like an amalgamation of her first & middle names.

And, I like that it would sound similar to Emily Brontë's pseudonym with our surname, but probably not similar enough for anyone else to notice!

The only negative I can think of is people saying "but that's a boy's name". We got that occasionally after one of our DSs' was born & his name was most definitely masculine in the Bible but does sometimes get used for girls. The contrary side of me actually rather likes the idea of confusing people the other way round too...

Sabby or Libby?

I like Bess (like in Madame secretary) but you could go for Tizz, Tizzy or something. I also like Lizzy though.

A spectacularly silly suggestion, which shows that some people on this forum really don't seem to understand what a nickname is
No sillier than wanting to give your child a nickname, as if it's a 'thing'. It isn't. A nickname is a corruption of the proper names chosen by reasonable people for their beloved children. A 'nn' in the MN sense is just pathetic.

I also know an Els and a Bis who are both Elizabeth

If you aren't going to bother calling her Elizabeth, don't give her the formal name in the first place. We gave our daughter a formal name ( say Charlotte), everyone always used a shortened version (say Lottie) in real life, but she's ended up with a nickname at home (say Fred). I know wish we hadn't bothered with her formal name as it has never been used except on paperwork. We now fret over every overseas trip etc that she goes on in case the school book tickets in the wrong name.

Genuine nicknames are just that, nicknames. They can't be pre-determined until your child has a personality of their own. If you like a shortened name, put that on the birth certificate in the first place as it will save so much bother in the long run.

I think a short version of a longer formal name is a traditional thing to do there's lots names that have a traditional short version and some people might call it a nick name as they are not simply a short part of the name. Examples are Peggy being short for Margaret or Billy short for William. Anyway this way of naming children has been going on for many years.

OP Elizabeth was a popular name in my family and one of the little girls was known as Lisbet.

I do know of someone whose degree qualification was given in her shortened version name which she was always known by and when it did not match her passport she had a lot of trouble getting her visa to work abroad. But that is looking ahead a bit!

The Irish for Elizabeth is Eilis pronounced.. eyeleesh???

Lissie?

Just name her Ellis!

But Ellis is a boy's name!

Always has been, and even though there is the odd girl given a boy's name, ONS shows it still mainly boy.

Sound like you've really thought about it and really like Elis. I also like the suggestion of Elsa, posted earlier. Elisabeth is a gorgeous name, too. Some very heated posts on here. Who'd have thought the subject of nicknames could raise such strong feelings rudeness!

Elisabeth has such an array of potential diminutives it seems odd to plan to use a shortening that isn't traditionally used.

How are you likely to pronounce Elis OP? To me it just brings to mind the boys name Ellis, which doesn't sound like the beginning of Elisabeth at all. Not sure that a use by a Brazilian singer is really a useful precedent. I doubt that anyone not into jazz or Brazilian music has heard of her.

I know two Elisabeths who go by Lisa.

I love Elis Regina but her first name was simply Elis which is the Brazilian Portuguese for the name "Elise" and is pronounced the same. So why not just name her Elis/Elise?

The problem you're going to face with this name is the amount of people (like so many posters on this thread) who spell the name incorrectly.. my sister is Elisabeth (with an S) and the amount of people who shorten it to Liz, rather than Lis is infuriating. Very rude as well!

I never understand why people get so worked up about people spelling their name slightly wrong (by one letter). People sometimes do it to me and i couldn't give one single fuck! It isn't "very rude", it's a little careless. Considering half the people I worked with in my last job couldn't spell the word drawer or tell the difference between brought and bought, it was hardly surprising they sometimes made a mistake with my name. Who cares really?

It's better to make an effort to get it right of course, but it's just not something I see as worth getting infuriated about tbh.

Personally I think it is very rude.. if you sign off an email spelling your name Tony and someone replies with Toni, how on earth is that not considered rude? The OP clearly used an unusual spelling for a classic name (as did my Father when naming my Sister) and replies just revert back to the original spelling! Without even digesting or reading properly! Yes, very rude IMHO.

I think we have completely different opinions on what is "infuriating" and "very rude", so maybe we'll just beg to differ and leave it there .

Of course.

Is it pronounced like Ellis or like the beginning of Elisabeth (which is more ah-lis when I say it)? I like the second!

Surely a nn just 'happens'? Like 'Freddie ' Flintoff -presumably happened because of a vague likeness between his surname and that of Fred Flintstones, certainly is nothing like his given name of Andrew. My dcs had nn s when they were children, dc1 was related to a certain talent they had and dc 2 was to do with a specific thing they did once. As they've grown up, nn s have changed depending on the source. What you are talking about is shortening the name. Frankly, although I understand choosing a name with consideration for abbreviation eg: Andrew shortens to Andy and Drew, if you are so determined to have a slightly different shortened name for daily use, why not just name them that on the first place?

I know an Elizabeth and everyone calls her liggy.

Elizabeth/Elisabeth:
Liz
Eliza
Lisa
Elisa
Elsie
Lis
Lizzy/Lizzie
Betty
Bet
Bess
Libby
Beth
Lil
Lily
Lilibet
Elspeth/Elsbeth
Lizbeth
...

Elis for a girl? Why not, but she'll be nicknamed Elsie/Elsi.

I had a colleague called Elise which is very pretty. Spelling Elisabeth with an s instead of a z isn't that unusual is it? I can imagine that you'd need to say Elisabeth with an 's' a lot as it doesn't really sound very different but that's not too big a deal. The Elisabeth's I know both go by their full names, Lis as a diminutive looks a bit odd to me. I can see why people might imagine it's Liz (although I agree when replying to an email you should use the name the person uses themselves).

I know an Elizabeth who is known as Lila. I think it's really pretty and suits her really well.